Kappa opioid receptor signaling in the basolateral amygdala regulates conditioned fear and anxiety in rats
AT Knoll, JW Muschamp, SE Sillivan, D Ferguson… - Biological …, 2011 - Elsevier
BACKGROUND: The kappa opioid receptor (KOR) system contributes to the prodepressive
and aversive consequences of stress and is implicated in the facilitation of conditioned fear
and anxiety in rodents. Here, we sought to identify neural circuits that mediate KOR system
effects on fear and anxiety in rats. METHODS: We assessed whether fear conditioning
induces plasticity in KOR or dynorphin (the endogenous KOR ligand) messenger RNA
(mRNA) expression in the basolateral (BLA) and central (CeA) nuclei of the amygdala …
and aversive consequences of stress and is implicated in the facilitation of conditioned fear
and anxiety in rodents. Here, we sought to identify neural circuits that mediate KOR system
effects on fear and anxiety in rats. METHODS: We assessed whether fear conditioning
induces plasticity in KOR or dynorphin (the endogenous KOR ligand) messenger RNA
(mRNA) expression in the basolateral (BLA) and central (CeA) nuclei of the amygdala …